When you look at a person, all you can see is what is on the outside. It is hard to imagine what they are thinking or feeling, or what they have been through to get where they are today. All a person sees is the physical, weathering effects that human experiences have placed on the human body.
Senior artist Jessica Rodriguez has decided to look deeper than a person’s outer beauty with her new exhibit “AEffect,” which opens with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m. on April 11 at the Trahern Student Gallery. The exhibit runs through April 15.
Through her work in this show, Rodriguez examines the connections between the mental, emotional and physical aspects of humanity. Emotions like heartbreak and fear, paired with violence and confusion are common concepts in her artwork.
“It is the ability to think and feel that makes us truly dynamic beings,” she said, “but it is our capability to persevere through thick and thin that makes us who we are.”
Rodriguez is a readmit student who returned to APSU to finish her art degree. She took a three-year hiatus to work full-time as a certified pharmacy technician.
“I just felt like something was missing,” she said. “I needed to go back and get the B.F.A. I had spent so long working toward. I’m back and I feel like I’ve learned more in this last year than I ever did. Being back in the Trahern feels right.”
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